Two days after the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDCD) vice-chairperson was issued a show-cause notice on Lieutenant-Governor V. K. Saxena’s direction for allegedly using his public office for political activities, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal released a booklet, “7 years of DDC”. He also credited the think tank for being the brain behind many successful government schemes.
“In the last 7 years, the DDCD has put in unprecedented hard work to come up with brilliant projects for the development of the Capital. The DDCD deserves a lot of credit for the success of Delhi government’s schemes. The DDCD’s experts work on the ground to make the common man’s life easier. The DDCD is bridging the gap between innovation and practice,” Mr. Kejriwal said during a press conference on Wednesday in which DDCD vice-chairperson Jasmine Shah was also present.
“The DDCD has taken up over 70 landmark projects in the last seven years such as EV (electric vehicle) policy, doorstep delivery of services, installation of CCTVs, streetlights, Health Information Management System, Rozgaar Bazaar, E-Coupon for Ration & COVID Ambulance Management,” he said.
The show-cause notice against Mr. Shah was based on a complaint by BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh that while working as DDCD vice-chairperson, Mr. Shah had acted as the official spokesperson of the Aam Aadmi Party for political gains, which is in violation of the established procedures.
Mr. Kejriwal reiterated Mr. Shah’s stand that the L-G does not have the jurisdiction to issue the notice.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also said that he has sent a letter to the L-G to make AAP MLA Raaj Kumar Anand as the new minister in the Delhi Cabinet.
On October 9, AAP leader Rajendra Pal Gautam resigned as a Minister after the BJP kicked off a political storm over his renunciation of Hindu deities at an event to embrace Buddhism on October 5.
‘Join hands for education’
On Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting a school in Gujarat on Wednesday, Mr. Kejriwal said that he is happy that after 75 years, the state of government schools and education of the poor are becoming a topic of discussion in mainstream politics. “I consider this as AAP’s biggest success. We have forced all political parties to talk about education,” he said.
“I want to tell the Prime Minister, we [AAP] know how to fix schools. All government schools in the country can be fixed in five years. We are from different political parties and ideologies but from the same country… Let’s together fix all the government schools of the country,” he added.
“We all have to work together to take the country forward,” Mr. Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.
